


"have you had any nightmares lately?"

by fondghost



Series: questions about peter parker [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Nightmares, Peter Parker Has Nightmares, it's not a bad interaction tho dw, spoiler alert Peter and Tony only interact in one of the nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 00:00:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16922862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fondghost/pseuds/fondghost
Summary: Peter doesn’t remember dreams or nightmares much (thank god), but the ones he does remember have recurrent themes.water... unstable buildings... funerals...(an answer to the question: does Peter have recurrent themes in his dreams? nightmares?)





	"have you had any nightmares lately?"

**Author's Note:**

> in the universe of the other fic but you don't need to read that one to get this one!
> 
> all you need to know is: Peter is in therapy (Tony is a good dad) & Dr. Cooper is his Very Good psychiatrist.

 

_“Good morning, Dr. Cooper.”_

_“Good morning, Peter. How are you feeling today?”_

Terrible.

_“Okay, I guess.”_

_“Hm. Wanna talk about it?’_

_“It’s just a feeling, I'm not sure what’s keeping me from a full 10…”_

_“Alright, that’s completely fine. How about we continue from where we left off last time?”_

_“Sure.”_

_“We were talking about PTSD and how it manifests. I wanted to ask if you’ve been having any nightmares lately?”_

 

* * *

 

 

Peter’s been through a lot. It took him a little bit to fully accept that yes, he has dealt with a lot of tough things, and he has every right to be a little affected by them. For some reason he felt like he had no right to be upset, to have panic attacks, nightmares, to need help… but he’s come a long way, and while he’s not completely there yet, he’s definitely on his way.

Point is, Peter’s been through a lot, and because of that, he inevitably has nightmares.

The good thing is, Peter’s never been one to really remember his dreams much (thank god); he remembers certain feelings and emotions that tell him if he’s having a normal dream, or a horrifying nightmare. But, ever since Thanos, his nightmares have had…. Noticeable themes.

 

* * *

 

Water 

 

It’s quiet. Too quiet. Peter never _not_ hears something, which is how he knows he’s dreaming.

 

His surroundings are also an obvious tell; wide, dark, musty, air is heavy - but not a single clear indication of _where_ he is.

 

All he can feel is dread - that heavy feeling in your chest that _something is not right_ but you’re not sure what exactly is wrong, just that something is. And you’re breathing but it feels like you’re not. Like something or _someone_ is pressing on your chest - not too hard, not hard enough to constrict your breathing, but just hard enough that it feels tight and wrong. It’s this feeling that makes the fear ten times as bad. Makes Peter want to punch and scratch and scream until he woke up - but he’s never been able to wake himself up from a dream.

 

_Dripdripdripdrip_

 

It’s faint but grows louder with every breath Peter takes - he knew he wasn’t moving but… how could a _dripping_ be moving toward  _him_?

 

Peter takes a step back, then another, another, another.

 

A drop hit his shoulder, and Peter stops breathing. He knows he should look up and see _what_ was dripping, but he was paralyzed with fear.

 

Another drop on his forehead.

 

Another hit his shaking hands.

 

It felt like hours and hours and _hours_ , but he wasn’t waking up.

 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to look up.

 

He stopped breathing.

 

It was like a huge balloon covered the entire expanse of the sky. But it was dark and heavy and was trembling at spots - it was like it was filled with water.

 

It was like the world flipped and the ocean had taken the sky’s place. And Peter couldn’t move.

 

_It was going to pop_

 

_He was gonna drown_

 

_There was nowhere to go_

 

_Dripdripdripdrip_

 

_Gonnadrowngonnadrowngonnadrown_

 

And just like that, with Peter’s eyes wide in horror locked into the ocean above, the ocean-sky split open and Peter _screamed._

 

* * *

 

_“Everyone has nightmares.”_

_“True, but I'm asking about nightmares that are a little too out of the ordinary, Peter. Nightmares that are not ones any normal teenager should be having. Does that makes sense, Peter?”_

_“I guess.”_

 

* * *

 

Shaky & Unstable Buildings 

 

“--and I'm telling you, kid, you need to start telling me when things get a little too hard.”

 

Peter was in a huge conference room. It sort of looked like a Stark Industries conference room, but really it was generic enough he wasn’t completely sure where he was or how he got there.

 

Ah. A dream.

 

“I will, Mr. Stark.”

 

Mr. Stark looked tired, and like he definitely didn’t believe Peter. “I just wanna keep you safe, kiddo.”

 

Wow, Peter’s unconscious certainly wanted to guilt him. “I know, Mr. Stark. I'm sorry.”

 

“Stop apologizing, Pete.”

 

A woman popped her head in from the open door, “Mr. Stark, you’re needed in conference 3.”

 

“Right.” Mr. Stark got up. “Stay put, kid, I’ll be back soon.”

 

With that, the lady and Mr. Stark left the room. Closing the door behind them. And locking it.

 

At this point, Peter sighed, knowing this was probably a nightmare and already dreading it. But hopefully it’s not too bad.

 

Nothing happened for a long time, so Peter got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

_Holy fuck they were so high up…_

 

The people down on the sidewalk were mere dots moving around. It was a dream, so this building was taller than _any_ building in real life - it was not safe.

 

He didn’t want to think about it too much, just in case his brain decided to use his fear against him. But he figured that was already happening.

 

He dizzily walked to the door, and halfheartedly tried to open it - locked, like he thought.

 

He took a deep breath, turned his back to the windows, and decided to just explore the (now somehow smaller) room.

 

It felt like hours before the nightmare made its point. And Peter wished it hadn’t.

 

At first, he thought he’d imagined it - had _hoped_ he’d imagined it, because there was no way the building had actually just wobbled.

 

He took a stuttering breath.

 

The building shook gently.

 

Peter crumbled to the ground, crawling to a corner and bringing his knees to his chest.

 

“Please no, please no, please no...”

 

It sounded like thunder - that’s how strong the next shake was.

 

Peter hid his face in his knees. “Oh god no.”

 

It was as if the words finally kicked the nightmare to full gear; the building started shaking _hard_ , bits of the ceiling were falling around the room.

 

_“Yes, find the file and send it to my tablet.”_

 

Peter’s head snapped up at the voice - no,  _please not him_. Tony was in the building. The building was going to crash.

 

_Nononononono_

 

He jumped up and started banging at the door, but try as he might, no one could hear him - he could hear the relaxed sounds coming from outside, but _no one could hear him yell for help._

 

He couldn’t do this. He wasn’t strong enough. He needed to wake up. _It wasn’t fair._

 

On time with a loud sob, the building crumbled, and Peter snapped awake.

 

* * *

 

_“Peter?”_

  _“Huh?”_

  _“Are you with me?”_

  _“Oh yeah, sorry. I have a project coming up that’s been distracting me.”_

  _“Peter, I know that sometimes things can be hard to say. I know sometimes it can feel like the words will not come out. That it feels like if you say it aloud, it’ll make it--”_

  _“Real.”_

  _“...yeah, Peter, that it’ll make it real. But you have to know that it won’t. You can talk about things and it won’t make them any more likely to happen. I_ need _you to know that.”_

  _“I know…. It’s hard sometimes though.”_

  _“I know. Wanna try it, though?”_

  _“...sure.”_

_“Have you had any nightmares lately?”_

 

* * *

 

Funerals where people tell him they’re “sorry” but he never knows who’s died 

 

He immediately recognized it was a dream - _a nightmare._

 

He was at a church. A lot of people were there. But not a lot of people. But there were people. A number of them. He couldn’t quite see how many - or how little. But he was at a church, and there were people, and they were wearing black.

 

He was standing, alone, at the back. Except it’s not the back, it’s the front - or the entrance.

 

Someone grabbed his hand. Shook it. “I'm so sorry for your loss.” and walked to the front - the back - the chairs.

 

There was a coffin. It was open but Peter couldn’t see who was in it from here. And there was a big picture to the side, but it was blurry and he couldn’t make it out.

 

Someone squeezed his shoulder. “I'm so sorry.” and walked to a chair.

 

There were flowers, and they were pretty, but they were dying - or they were dead… some of them were dead.

 

Someone pulled him into a tight hug. “I'm sorry.” and walked to a chair.

 

He saw a rope separating the first row from the ones behind it. Probably the friends and family of the deceased. There were people sitting there, and they were crying. Loud. but Peter couldn’t see them - couldn’t tell if they were men or women, young or old, _who_ they were.

 

A group traded him off one by one to hug him, “sorry” - “sorry for your loss” - “you’re in my prayers, I'm sorry”, then walked to chairs.

 

There was a loud bang as the church doors closed. A hum as everyone sat up straight and looked ahead.

 

A man, or a woman - a _person_ took to the podium. “We are gathered here to celebrate someone, aren’t we, Peter?”

 

Why couldn’t Peter move?

 

“Someone you know, Peter, aren’t they? Someone you love. Someone you lost.”

 

People were sitting like statues, they didn’t look like they were even breathing.

 

“And now, Peter Parker will come up here and say a few words, won’t you, Peter?”

 

Peter was walking forward, but he wasn’t _moving_ , so how was he moving?

 

He was screaming “NO” as he got closer and closer to the coffin, but he wasn’t making a single sound. And no one turned to look at him. Only the person at the podium.

 

He was a few steps away… a few steps and he’d see into the coffin - see what he didn’t want to see.

 

He was almost there.

 

Almost… just… one… more… ste---

 

Peter opened his eyes, blinking slowly, and wiped the tears from his cheeks.

 

* * *

 

_“Have you had any nightmares lately?”_

_“No.”_

**Author's Note:**

> well. that was that. look I really didn't wanna be on the nose with the nightmares but... lmao definitely failed. you can pinpoint exactly which traumatic experience each dream is referencing smh
> 
> I wanted there to be 5 dreams but school is killing me & I decided to post this & try to finish one of the other questions (which is, sneak peek, "in what situation is Peter calmest?" - the answer may shock you (but not really)) 
> 
> thank you for reading & I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
